Bed pan liner



Dec. 4, 1962 E. J. HUBER 3,066,315

BED PAN LINER Filed Nov. 17. 1960 IN V EN TOR.

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i a/0% J farfer fitted Stats 3,066,315 BED PAN LHNER Emile J. Huber, 8Z4 Shihley Ava, Park Ridge, Ill. Filed Nov. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 69,? 1 (Jiairn. (Cl. 4-112) This invention relates in general to a hospital or nursing aid and more particularly to a new and improved bed pan liner.

The conventional bed pan is normally cleaned by a nurse, nurses aid, orderly or other hospital attendant in a time-consuming and distasteful operation after it has been used by a patient. This cleaning is ordinarily performed with the aid of flushing equipment, which in some instances might be an ordinary water faucet, and brushes which facilitate the removal of wastes adhering to the pan. The nurse must wear rubber gloves for protection against contamination and disease as he or she performs this operation.

It will be obvious that in normal hospital operations, these unpleasant cleaning operations must be performed innumerable times each day. If, for medical reasons, the stool must be saved for laboratory analysis or otherwise, the task of the nurse is made substantially more diificult. In addition to the already time-consuming and unpleasant task confronting her in merely cleaning the pan, special care must be used to preserve a specimen for the analysis.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved bed pan liner.

Another object is to provide an inexpensive and disposable bed pan liner.

Yet another object is to provide a bed pan liner which is simple in construction and can be stored in limited space or readily adapted for use in a dispenser.

Still another object is to provide a bed pan liner which has extensive wet strength yet which is sufficiently tissuelike to flush down an ordinary toilet.

Still another object is to provide a bed pan liner which is easily inserted in and removed from the pan yet which is held properly in place during use.

Another object is to provide a bed pan liner which eliminates the need for the distasteful and time-consuming cleaning operations heretofore necessary with bed pans of this type.

A further object is to provide a bed pan liner which facilitates retaining the stool for pathological study or the like.

Still another object is to provide a bed pan liner which eliminates the need for brushes, rubber gloves, extensive plumbing or flushing installations and the like heretofore found necessary in the cleaning of bed pans.

These and other objects of this invention will be readily apparent in the following specification and claim wherein like reference numerals identify like parts throughout.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View showing a bed pan having a bed pan liner inserted therein,

FIGURE 2 is a partial view in section of the mouth of the bed pan showing its relation to the tongue of the bed pan liner, and

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the bed pan liner.

A conventional bed pan 1 is illustrated in perspective in FIGURE 1. The bed pan 1 is generally a pear-shaped, dish-like container having upwardly extending walls 2. Walls 2 have an inwardly extending flange 3 which provides a seat for the patient. In a well-known manner, this inwardly extending flange 3 narrows, as at 4 and 5, when it approaches the narrow end of the pan to form a mouth 7. As best seen in FIGURE 2, the side wall 2 adjacent mouth 7 has an upper edge 8 which does not 3,fifi,3i5 Patented Dec. 4, 1962 bend inwardly to form a flange in the manner of the remainder of the edge.

The bed pan liner forming the basis of this invention is shown in plan view at 10 in FIGURE .3. The liner is generally pear-shaped, with a major portion 11 of substantially circular configuration and a lip or tongue 12 extending therefrom. The liner is formed of a paper of generally tissue-like quality, having substantial wet strength. Such wet strength papers are manufactured by many leading paper manufacturers such as Kimberly- Clark of Neenah, Wisconsin. By wet strength is meant that the paper substantially retains its strength or resistance to tear as it becomes wet through the absorption of water and other liquids.

The liner 10 has a tab 13 die cut in the tongue 12 in the manner shown in FIGURE 3. The base 14 of the tab, which remains uncut, extends generally transversely of the tongue portion 12 such that the free end of the tab extends in a direction opposed to that in which the tongue 12 extends. The significance of this construction will be explained in the discussion of use and operation of this invention.

Detachable tabs 16 and 17 are shown attached in off set positions to the sides of the main portion 11 of the liner 10. The tabs 16 and 17 are separated from the main portion 11 of the liner by slits 18 and 19 cut in the paper. These slits 18 and 19 make the tabs easily detachable from the liner itself. Tabs 16 and 17 are utilized in adapting the liner for use in a dispenser and actually form no part of this invention, being shown merely to illustrate the manner in which it is adapted for such use. As will be seen in FIGURE 1, the tabs 16 and 17 tear off when the liner is pulled from such a dispenser leaving a regular edge contour on the major portion 11 of the liner.

FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate the position of the liner as it lies in the bottom of bed pan 1. As is best seen in FIGURE 2, the major portion of the liner and part of the tongue lie flat on the bottom of the pan while the end of the tongue extends upwardly over the edge 8 of mouth 7. The liner is held in position, and the tongue in such relation that it extends out of the mouth of the bed pan, by the tab 13 which is pulled back in the manner shown in FEGURE 2 and extends outwardly over the edge 3 of the pan.

The use and operation of this invention are as folows:

As has been previously set out, the paper from which the bed pan liner forming the basis of this invention is made is tissue-like and possesses extensive wet strength. Because of the tissue-like character of the paper, it is, of course, very thin and a great number of the liners can be stacked in a minimum of space. When a nurse, for example, desires to prepare a clean bed pan for a patients use, a tissue will be taken from this supply, which might be a dispenser of one form or another, and the major portion 11 pressed down into the bed pan. Because of the tissue-like quality of the paper, it easily adapts itself to be inserted through the open top of the pan 1 and conforms immediately to the shape of the pan while lying on the bottom thereof.

In inserting the tissue liner into the pan in this manner, the nurse retains possession with one hand, .for example, of the end of the tongue 12 and with one finger might depress the tab 13 to overlie the upper edge 8 of the mouth 7 of the pan. In readiness for use then, the liner and bed pan combination would appear as it does in FIGURES l and 2 of the drawings. The liner rests flat against the bottom of the pan while the tongue extends out of the mouth 7 in easily accessible position for the nurse to grasp it for removal.

After the patient has used the bed pan containing this liner, the nurse may grasp the end of the tongue 12 with one hand while holding the bed pan with the other, for example, and draw the liner up through the mouth of the bed pan. Because of the wet strength of the tissue-like paper, it does not tear as it is so drawn out of the bed pen and consequently the contents which have been deposited on the liner are drawn in toto from the pan. Due also to the tissue-like quality of the paper, it is easily drawn out of the mouth of the pan with the edges folding up or otherwise adapting themselves to passage through the constricted mouth.

When the liner and contents have been completely removed from the pan, they can be completely flushed down a conventional toilet, for example. This is facilitated because the paper is tissue-like in character and though it possesses wet strength will readily absorb fluid and crumple. In the alternative, if a specimen is desired for pathological study, the liner can easily be conveyed to the laboratory facilitating such a study.

It will be readily seen that the pan, after the liner has been removed in a manner hereinbefore described, can be easily cleaned in the simplest of manner. Rinsing it out with water and detergent is all that is necessary. No rubber gloves are called for and the distasteful brush and cleaning operations heretofore required are completely eliminated. A nurse can clean a bed pan in this manner in a minimum of time and consequently save considerable time during her working shift since the frequency of use of bed pans in hospitals is obviously high.

For use in the home by private nurses or while a patient is being cared for by his family, for example, it will be obvious that a bed pan and liner combination such as has been described will facilitate a cleaning operation easily performed in the home Without special equipment.

This, coupled with the fact that the simplicity of the liner makes it inexpensive to buy in quantities, makes it obvious that home use of the liner is extremely practical also.

The tissue-thin liner which is strong, Whether Wet or dry, readily adapts itself for dispensing from a number of well-known machines of varied construction.

It is 4%, inexpensive to manufacture and in line with its adaptability for use in dispensers may be stacked in packs of hundreds while the packs remain relatively thin.

What has been described is a new and improved bed pan liner which can be economically and easily used in both hospital and home. The time and labor it saves, not to speak of the distasteful character of the labor it eliminates, together with its obvious simplicity make the liner a long awaited aid to professional and private nursmg.

The foregoing description is intended to be illustrative only, however, and not definitive and the invention should be limited only by the appended claim.

I claim:

A disposable liner adapted for use in a bed pan having a generally pear-shaped configuration with upstanding sides having inwardly flared edges forming a seat, and a mouth at one end without a flared edge, said liner being flat over its entire area and having substantial wet strength so as not to tear readily when wet, said liner having two generally symmetrical halves, each half including a generally rounded portion at each end, with the rounded portion at one end being substantially larger than the rounded portion at the other end such that both large rounded portions form a surface which lies flat on the bottom of the bed pan, with each symmetrical half being angular and slightly arcuate between the smaller and larger rounded portions such that both smaller rounded portions combine to form a tongue adapted to extend out of the mouth of the bed pan, a tab cut in said tongue portion, said tab adapted to lie over the upper edge of the side adjacent the mouth of the pan and hold said liner in position in the bed pan with the tongue extending therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,388,155 Abraham Aug. 23, 1921 2,063,797 Ebert Dec. 8, 1936 2,320,845 Bolton June 1, 1943 

